


Allergic Reaction

by Tibby



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Allergies, Fluff, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 03:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18886672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tibby/pseuds/Tibby
Summary: Tilly accidentally let's out some spores into the captain's quarters, not realising that Pike is allergic.





	Allergic Reaction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lah_mrh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lah_mrh/gifts).



“He is going to love this!”

Michael opened her eyes from her meditative state to see Tilly swiftly clasping a hand over her own mouth.

“Sorry!” she squeaked, “I’m so sorry! I forgot you were here, doing that.”

Michael shook her head. It was no matter. “Who’s going to love what?”

“Stamets,” Tilly grinned, holding up a clear tube. It was filled with dancing, feathery particles, lit by a pale blue glow.

“Is it something to do with the spore drive?”

“No, no. This is something I’ve been working on in my spare time – it’s an entirely different genus. I’ve been growing these and testing them for anti-pathogenic activity. Stamets and I swap notes.”

“You know,” said Michael, smiling mildly as she unfolded her crossed legs and stretched upwards, “Some people who work with fungal spores for a living like to leave them in the lab.”

Tilly shook her head, incredulous. “People are strange, aren’t they? Mycology’s too much fun to be all about work,” She didn’t take her eyes off the tube for a moment as she added, jubilantly, “My little babies are doing so well!”

“They sure are,” Michael echoed, equally amused and willing to encourage.

“Now,” said Tilly, pressing her head to the life-warmed glass casing, “Let’s get some of you under the microscope.”

Tilly flipped a switch near the lid and, with a click, a panel was ejected. Tilly slid the panel out carefully, revealing a ready-to-go petri-dish for the microscope. She turned, quickly, tube in one hand, petri-dish in the other, just as Michael was getting up from the floor. For a moment, everything moved very slowly as Tilly felt her foot tangle under Michael’s leg which, damn it all, hadn’t been there a second ago. The fall seemed to happen very slowly too. Things only sped up to a normal pace again when she landed on the floor and the tube was thrown from her hand, bouncing across the floor with a thump thump _thump_. Click.

“Oops.”

 

Tilly, slightly pink and smiling sheepishly, related all this to the captain, adding, “Oh, and then the spores got into the vents. We managed to close off most of the ducts but, obviously, they got into your quarters. I think you know everything else, sir.”

Captain Pike had maintained eye contact through Tilly’s entire story and, as it ended, he narrowed his eyes in a way that made Tilly feel like she’d never been so aware of her own body. People talk about hairs standing on end but Tilly was so embarrassed she was pretty sure she could feel her own eyelashes.

Stamets ducked in beside her. He placed a reassuring hand on the clear wall of the containment chamber.

“On behalf of the science team, we’re very sorry. You’ll be glad to know the contamination isn’t actually that extensive. We should have you out of here in a couple of hours.”

“A couple of hours?” Pike repeated, voice ever-so-slightly strained.

Tilly, as if sabotaging her own escape from the captain’s attention, let out a nervous giggle.

 

Tilly didn’t know why but she hung back near the containment chamber when Stamets left. There was nothing for her to do, Captain Pike simply had to stay where he was until he was completely decontaminated. Maybe she was waiting to be formally dismissed.

The captain looked pretty miserable, she thought.

He coughed. Tilly reflected that he had coughed a couple of times through the course of her storytelling. This one was not a demure bit-of-dust-in-the-back-of-your-throat sort of cough but a heaving, spluttering cough that didn’t so much come to a stop as devolve into wheezing breaths.

“Are you okay, sir?” Tilly asked, nervously.

“Fine, fine.” Pike said.

There was silence for a moment – tense, breathless silence. That was no exaggeration, Tilly saw that the captain was actually holding his breath. Eventually he had to take some air again and he threw his head forward in a loud, long coughing fit. When he eventually raised his head again, his neat silver hair was flopped messily across his forehead. His eyes were red, running - as was his nose.

Tilly was starting to put the pieces together in her brain.

“Sir,” she said, hesitantly, “Are you – are you allergic?”

For a moment it looked as though Pike might try to deny it. He had more sense than to try to dupe a smart future-captain like Tilly, though. He nodded, half smiling at the ridiculous situation. Then he broke into a coughing fit again.

“Just a mild mushroom allergy,” he said, once he could, “Didn’t think I should mention it, it’s nothing to worry about. And what would you think to a captain going around complaining about his hay fever?”

“Actually, sir, hay fever’s a completely different thing – that’s an allergic reaction to pollen, whereas what you’re experiencing is an allergy to the proteins in funghi, in this case-“

Tilly broke off under the power of another questioning stare. Too nervous to stop talking, however, she forged ahead on a different subject.

“That’s fine, I deserve that look. Don’t hate me for saying this, sir, but I kind of like it when you’re stern.”

Pike laughed despite himself.  
“I should go to sick bay and find someone to take a look at you,” Tilly continued.

“No,” Pike insisted, rubbing his eyes, “It’s not dangerous, it’s just a mild allergic reaction. Stamets is working on making me spore free, right? When the spores go, this face will go,” he put a hand up to showcase his red eyes and nose. Tilly laughed, just as he’d intended. He went on, “You can get going too, you know. I’m sure you have duties to attend to.”

“Actually, it’s my day off,” said Tilly. A pause. She added, sheepishly, “Hey, Captain?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s one good thing about this.”

“There is?”

“All these spores will probably make you one _fun guy_.”

Pike let the awfulness of Tilly’s joke sink in.

“Ensign Tilly, are you trying to cheer me up?”

“Maybe,” Tilly grinned.

 

Tilly stayed by the containment chamber for the remaining two hours.


End file.
